


No 9. For The Greater Good

by Smiley5494



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: "run!", +26 words, Double Drabble, Gen, Gwaine has PTSD, No 9, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26947183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smiley5494/pseuds/Smiley5494
Summary: Gwaine hardly remembered the night he’d left. He remembered snippets, moments that he would never forget—the smell of fire, the taste of blood, the sound of his sister’s voice screaming“Run! Run Gwaine!”
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965595
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	No 9. For The Greater Good

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:
> 
> No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD  
> “Take Me Instead” | **“Run!”** | Ritual Sacrifice

Gwaine hardly remembered the night he’d left. He remembered snippets, moments that he would never forget—the smell of fire, the taste of blood, the sound of his sister’s voice screaming _“Run! Run Gwaine!”_

He couldn’t ever forget the screams, no matter how much he drank, no matter how many fights he got in. He couldn’t help but hear his sister’s voice every time he stayed too long in one place. He met Merlin and Arthur in a bar fight, the taste of blood thick where he’d bitten his cheek while being stabbed in the thigh. It was starting something new, and all Gwaine could hear was _run_. 

* * *

Gwaine meets Leon, Elyan, Lancelot and Percival and he can’t help but see what Merlin sees, the promise of a future that’s theirs to build, a future that is inclusive and equal, where everyone is free and everyone is happy.

Gwaine meets friends, Gwaine meets his new family, and he can smell fire, he can taste blood, and his sister’s screams are echoing in his thoughts. He doesn’t run, no matter how loud his sister gets, because whenever it gets too loud Merlin is there with an easy _“Stay.”_

So he stays, and Arthur knights him, and he can pretend—just for a little longer—that he can’t hear his sister’s screams, her cries, begging him to run.


End file.
